Ralph Towner – Solstice (1975/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 41:06 minutes | 1,39 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © ECM

Considered one of Ralph Towner’s greatest albums, this 1975 release features the guitarist leading a quartet consisting of Jan Garbarek on saxophones and flute, Eberhard Weber on bass and cello and drummer Jon Christensen. Towner composed all the songs except for one contribution from Weber.When Ralph Towner burst onto the contemporary jazz scene in the mid-70s, listeners were well aware of his awesome talent as a member of Oregon. But when Solstice was issued on the ECM label, it took the brilliant guitarist’s caché to a much higher level, especially as a composer. With the otherworldly curved soprano sax and flute playing of Jan Garbarek, the precise drumming of Jon Christensen, and unique bass sounds of Eberhard Weber, the music on this album lifted the ECM/Euro-styled jazz and improvised music to a new realm of pure expressionism. Simply put — this music is stunningly beautiful. The incredible “Oceanus” begins with Towner’s cascading guitar, followed by the swelling and symphonic bass of Weber, a swinging drum line by Christensen with Garbarek’s atmospheric and dramatic curved soprano layering contrasting timbres, symmetry, and unusual colors. “Nimbus” opens with some astounding technical harmonics from Towner, more so considering the acoustic nature of his instrument. A circular theme in implied 3/4 underneath 4/4 leads to overdubbed flutes from Garbarek, bowed bass, the curved soprano in 6/8 all identifying the pure ECM sound. “Piscean Dance” is a funky workout between Towner and Christensen, the earthiest track on the date, and an exercise of intuitive confluence. Other portions of the disc are space oriented like the loose, free and haunting “Red & Black,” “Visitation” with multiple percussion sounds of flexatone and shakers under Weber’s bowed bass and Garbarek’s alien dragonfly flute, while Weber’s “Sand” has the musicians staring at the Crab Nebula while firmly rooted in a strut later in the piece. Towner’s wondrous piano is heard on “Drifting Petals,” a pretty and pensive waltz with unison lines alongside Garbarek’s flute, then Towner switches to guitar in a deeper discourse with the quartet. As cold as the Norwegian studio (Oslo) they were recording in, “Winter Solstice” is not so much profound as it is telepathic, as the players use stop-start techniques, again inserting a 3/4 rhythm into a 4/4 equation. Of the many excellent recordings he has offered, Solstice is Towner’s crowning achievement as a leader fronting this definitive grouping of ECM stablemates who absolutely define the label’s sound for the time frame, and for all time. ~~ AllMusic Review by Michael G. Nastos

Tracklist:

1. Ralph Towner – Oceanus (11:06)
2. Ralph Towner – Visitation (02:36)
3. Ralph Towner – Drifting Petals (06:58)
4. Ralph Towner – Nimbus (06:30)
5. Ralph Towner – Winter Solstice (04:02)
6. Ralph Towner – Piscean Dance (04:15)
7. Ralph Towner – Red And Black (01:18)
8. Ralph Towner – Sand (04:18)

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Ralph Towner – My Foolish Heart (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 40:26 minutes | 715 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © ECM

After critically-lauded projects with trumpeter Paolo Fresu (Chiaroscuro) and with fellow guitarists Wolfgang Muthspiel and Slava Grigoryan (Travel Guide), Ralph Towner returns to solo guitar for My Foolish Heart. Whether on classical guitar or 12-string guitar Towner’s touch is immediately identifiable. Solo music is an important thread through his rich discography and this new album – recorded at Lugano’s Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in February 2016 and produced by Manfred Eicher – follows in the great tradition of Diary, Solo Concert, Ana, Anthem, and Time Line. It features finely-honed new compositions as well as a pair of tunes (“Shard” and “Rewind”) from the songbook of Oregon, a dedication to the late Paul Bley (“Blue As In Bley”) and a single standard – Victor Young’s “My Foolish Heart” which Towner first came to love in Bill Evans’s interpretation.Having focused on small groups in the 2010s and even collaborated with Argentine ensemble Aires Tango for 2016’s Duende, Ralph Towner returns to a solo guitar format on his 2017 ECM effort, the warmly ruminative My Foolish Heart. Entirely consisting of Towner’s classically inflected original pieces save for a gorgeously measured rendition of the Victor Young/Ned Washington title track composition, My Foolish Heart is a virtuoso session, intimately delivered. On past solo albums, like 1973’s Diary and 1982’s evocative Blue Sun, Towner deftly exploited the use of overdubbing various instruments to achieve his atmospheric layers of harmony. Here, with producer Manfred Eicher at the helm, he favors the minimalism of simply playing his woody, acoustic classical and 12-string guitars into a microphone. Even so, there are moments here, like the foreboding “Clarion Call,” in which Towner improbably sounds like two musicians combined in duet, his bass figures interwoven with his crystalline, moon-like, high-end phrases. Similarly, the 12-string feature “Biding Time,” spills forth like sun on water and brings to mind something along the lines of a classical reworking of a Yes song. Elsewhere, Towner displays his ability to deftly bridge styles on the opening “Pilgrim,” which combines Elizabethan-sounding melodies and moody jazz inflection. No less compelling, the sad-eyed “I’ll Sing to You” is a bittersweet ballad in which Towner sobs and sighs across his fretboard until landing on a repeated Spanish-flavored phrase that has the feel of someone staring into the dark horizon as they think on a lost love. Ultimately, it’s Towner’s immense gift for portraying that kind of romantic drama that makes My Foolish Heart such an evocative listening experience. –AllMusic Review by Matt Collar

Tracklist:

01. Ralph Towner – Pilgrim (04:31)
02. Ralph Towner – I’ll Sing To You (04:32)
03. Ralph Towner – Saunter (05:01)
04. Ralph Towner – My Foolish Heart (03:51)
05. Ralph Towner – Dolomiti Dance (04:24)
06. Ralph Towner – Clarion Call (04:40)
07. Ralph Towner – Two Poets (02:04)
08. Ralph Towner – Shard (00:54)
09. Ralph Towner – Ubi Sunt (01:20)
10. Ralph Towner – Biding Time (01:29)
11. Ralph Towner – Blue As In Bley (03:53)
12. Ralph Towner – Rewind (03:43)

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Ralph Towner, Glen Moore – Trios / Solos (1973/2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 43:59 minutes | 833 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © ECM

Trios / Solos is an album by American jazz guitarist Ralph Towner with Glen Moore.

At AllMusic, critic Thom Jurek gave the album four stars, stating, “While Trios/Solos has its moments of pure unadulterated noodling yawn, there are more than enough dimensions where the four elements meet and spark to compensate”.

Tracklist:

1-01. Ralph Towner – Brujo (05:46)
1-02. Ralph Towner – Winter Light (03:39)
1-03. Ralph Towner – Noctuary (02:27)
1-04. Ralph Towner – 1×12 (02:51)
1-05. Glen Moore – A Belt Of Asteroids (06:39)
1-06. Ralph Towner – Re: Person I Knew (06:22)
1-07. Ralph Towner – Suite: 3×12 – I (02:07)
1-08. Ralph Towner – Suite: 3×12 – II (02:19)
1-09. Ralph Towner – Suite: 3×12 – III (02:54)
1-10. Ralph Towner – Raven’s Wood (05:23)
1-11. Ralph Towner – Reach Me, Friend (03:28)

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Ralph Towner – Diary (1973/2025)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 42:56 minutes | 802 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © ECM Records

Diary is the debut solo album by American jazz guitarist and composer Ralph Towner, recorded over two days in April 1973 and released on ECM later that year.

The AllMusic review by David R. Adler awarded the album 3 stars, stating: “It’s a solo performance with a twist: Towner plays not only 12-string and classical guitars, but also very competent piano…. Towner accompanies himself via overdubs, playing both guitar and piano for an effect vaguely reminiscent of Bill Evans’ Conversations with Myself.”

Tracklist:

1-1. Ralph Towner – Dark Spirit (07:26)
1-2. Ralph Towner – Entry In A Diary (03:54)
1-3. Ralph Towner – Images Unseen (04:14)
1-4. Ralph Towner – Icarus (06:17)
1-5. Ralph Towner – Mon Enfant (05:44)
1-6. Ralph Towner – Ogden Road (08:02)
1-7. Ralph Towner – Erg (03:21)
1-8. Ralph Towner – The Silence Of A Candle (03:56)

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Ralph Towner – At First Light (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 44:06 minutes | 721 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © ECM

An ECM artist for his entire musical career, US guitarist Ralph Towner has built up a unique body of work in his recordings for the label.

Central to his oeuvre are his solo albums, the first of which, Diary, was issued 50 years ago. At First Light extends this great tradition, drawing inspiration from a broad palette of music. “My solo recordings have always included my own compositions in which there are trace elements of the many composers and musicians that have attracted me,” writes Towner in a liner note, citing the influence of, among others, George Gershwin, John Coltrane, John Dowland and Bill Evans: “I feel that At First Light is a good example of shaping this expanse of influences into my personal music.”

In addition to his own pieces, Towner also plays Hoagy Carmichael’s “Little Old Lady”, Jule Styne’s “Make Someone Happy” and the traditional tune “Danny Boy.”

Recorded at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano, in February 2022, At First Light was produced by Manfred Eicher.50 years after the release of Diary, which was Ralph Towner’s first solo album for the ECM label, he returns, guitar in hand, for a triumph of acoustic minimalism. With At First Light, which he recorded in February 2022, the eighty-something year old American expanded his relationship with the classical guitar by crossing the boundaries between jazz, classical music and folk. “My solo recordings have always included my own compositions, in which there are trace elements of the composers and musicians that have attracted me over the years. Musicians such as George Gershwin, John Coltrane, John Dowland, Bill Evans… to name a few. The blend of keyboard and guitar techniques is an important aspect of my playing and composition, and I feel that this album is a good example of shaping this expanse of influences into my personal music.” Everything here is totally clear; no note oversteps its role, there is no eccentric improvisation, no clouds darken the horizon. This being said, clear is never synonymous with plain for Ralph Towner; on the contrary. He is such a master of his instrument that we can ONLY concentrate on the music and the multitude of tones he presents, nothing else. His playing takes us by the hand and doesn’t let go. We follow him with closed eyes and a gentle smile on our faces… – Marc Zisman

Tracklist:

1-1. Ralph Towner – Flow (05:07)
1-2. Ralph Towner – Strait (04:56)
1-3. Ralph Towner – Make Someone Happy (03:53)
1-4. Ralph Towner – Ubi Sunt (04:46)
1-5. Ralph Towner – Guitarra Piccante (04:25)
1-6. Ralph Towner – At First Light (04:44)
1-7. Ralph Towner – Danny Boy (03:40)
1-8. Ralph Towner – Fat Foot (03:49)
1-9. Ralph Towner – Argentinian Nights (01:41)
1-10. Ralph Towner – Little Old Lady (03:17)
1-11. Ralph Towner – Empty Stage (03:43)

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